


Don't Go Into The Woods - Version II

by OHSHC_Trash_14



Category: Free!
Genre: Character death is not described, Gen, Horror, Inhuman characters, M/M, Monsters - somewhat, Things that live in the woods, mind control?? I dunno if I can call it that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-18 00:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21519187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OHSHC_Trash_14/pseuds/OHSHC_Trash_14
Summary: Natsuya's American friends convince him to to take them into the woods, against his better judgement.
Relationships: Kirishima Natsuya/Serizawa Nao, sorta
Kudos: 1





	1. Matt & Ryan

**Author's Note:**

> I felt inspired to re-write this story. If you've read the old version, which is still posted on my account, you may notice that I changed some things and left others the same. The plot is more or less the same, and there are some lines that are directly copied from the previous posted draft. This was on purpose. I'm not reposting the same story, and I'm not making something completely different.
> 
> Link to the old version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19874041/chapters/47067085#workskin  
> Link to the post this idea was based off: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz-t8CMFSsu/?igshid=bmrrid2wxzxy

There were many odd things in Iwatobi that you couldn’t quite explain to someone from outside of town. Natsuya knew them well. 

Anyone who’s really seen what happens out on the ocean during a storm or in the depths of the woods at night doesn’t discuss it, but you hear about it. No one is immune. 

The man who felt drawn to the ocean, generations of salt water running through his veins, swallowed up by the sea. The fishermen that came back say the water had eyes that night. 

The young boy who followed a white cat and was never seen again.

And the stories closer to home, like his little brother’s friend from seventh grade who acted a little strangely. They say people from the hills are like that, and many locals weren’t surprised when he disappeared one day. ‘These things happen in the hills,’ the older generations said as they comforted his mother and told her it wasn’t her fault.

Even closer to Natsuya’s heart was a friend of his who vanished the same year. He was a sweet kid, quiet and calm, which balanced out Natsuya’s rambunctious demeanor rather nicely. He didn’t live as close to the hills, he lived down in the more modern part of town like Natsuya did, and he didn’t go out to the ocean after dark. But when he had to stay in the hospital at the edge of the woods, some kids they knew from school were worried. Back then, Natsuya didn’t believe too much in all this. He’d heard stories and thought they were only that. The kids that lived in the hills got real worried, said no one from outside of the hills goes up there, they make the commute to the big hospital on the north side. Natsuya’s friend went in for a small issue near the end of their final year of middle school, and Natsuya spent his next year in America. When he got back, there was no trace of his friend. Different people lived in his old house, and he didn’t go to any of the local high schools.

When Natsuya was in his twenties and two of his American friends visited Iwatobi with plans to stay out late, he decided to remain sober. 

* * *

“Boring!” Matt yelled. “I wanted to look for aliens.” 

“There aren’t aliens in South Iwatobi,” Natsuya sighed. He’d been saying this for years. 

Matt gestured with his little notebook. He really was the perfect embodiment of a conspiracy theorist sometimes. “But there is weird shit, and I want to see it.” 

“Don’t call them that, it’s bad luck.” 

“Well aren’t you Mister Superstitious.”

“You’re worse than he is,” Ryan chimed in. “You both know none of this stuff is real, right?” 

“You grew up in Arizona, how can you  _ say  _ that?” Matt squeaked. 

“Back home, some dude with a sawed off shotgun is out late at night, drunk off his ass, claims he sees an alien spaceship. He’s paranoid, inhibited, and probably wandered too far off his property, saw some farm equipment from a strange angle. Out here, a bunch of guys are out on a boat for weeks at a time, having to be real sparing with their food and water. One night a guy swears up and down he heard a siren or a mermaid or whatever you want to call it, and the rest believe it because they’ve heard legends and know some other guy that says he saw one too. When they get back to shore they spread the story without mentioning that it was a foggy and windy night.” Ryan pauses and leans against Natsuya’s car. “It’s the same principle.”

“Then how do you explain that recording I have, huh? You’ve heard it yourself!” Matt protested.

“I dunno, you have a sister, you have a dog, and you live in the middle of a desert. Pick your poison.” 

“I’ve never heard anything like that sound before, and my parents agreed it was weird.” 

“It was a fox, I’ve told you this. Also, you told  _ me  _ you were high on weed the night you heard it.” 

“It couldn’t’ve been a fox, it was practically laughing!” 

“Foxes make a noise that sounds like laughter. Look it up if you don’t believe me.” 

“I’ve heard foxes before and it’s not the same,” Matt huffed. 

“You recorded it,” Ryan paused to give Matt a pointed look, “on that eight-track machine your dad gave you. The tape or the machine could’ve distorted it.”

Natsuya was getting sick of this. “Let’s just go to the north side. You guys can get drunk and argue about aliens or whatever.” 

* * *

They’re out for a while before they all get pretty bored. The north side is safer, and it’s rare that you hear stories from there. It’s more urban and has some tourist traps, so the whole place is decently lit up way after dark. Matt starts bothering his friends about aliens again, Natsuya gives in and takes them back to the south side on the condition that no one gets out of the car unless he says so.

Natsuya is reluctantly driving on the roads on the outer edge of the woods while Matt excitedly looks out the windows in the back seat. 

“If you see anything you won’t be able to get a picture.”

“Come on,” Matt said for at least the fourth time. 

“If we do see anything, I’ll be driving away already.”

“Boring.” 

“That’s your word of the day, isn’t it?” Ryan laughed.

“No my word of the day is-” The inside of the car fell silent as they heard a loud popping sound from outside. Matt and Ryan both looked at Natsuya.

He sighed. “Flat tire.”

Natsuya told them both, firmly, to stay in the car. 

He inspected the damage using his phone as a flashlight, then got back into the car and shut the door.

“Another reason I hate coming out here is stupid kids scatter nails and broken glass on the roads.”

“How do you know that?” Ryan asked.

“Cause I used to hang out with those kids in high school, doing that shit is kind of a tradition. It was not my proudest moment.” 

Ryan pointed at the back seat. “You haven’t improved much.”

“Hey!” Matt squaked. 

“Anyway,” Ryan said, verbally ignoring his friend’s reaction to his comment, “Are we gonna change a tire out here or are we getting back to town some other way?” 

Natsuya’s voice had an uncommon note of seriousness in it. “You’re both going to get out and help, but we stay where we can see each other and no one goes more than a meter from the car.” He stopped to think a moment. “I think a meter is three or four feet, the point is stay close.”

* * *

“Natsuya,” Ikuya said angrily. “Mom’s already tried calling you twice, pick up your damn phone, it’s freaking her out. And I haven’t told her where you went, but she knows you’re out with your stupid friends.” Before they left the north side, Natsuya texted Ikuya so someone would know their whereabouts. 

“Did he answer?” Their mom asked as Ikuya walked back into the living room. 

“No, I can try calling his friends next.” 

“I’ll do that, you go to bed. It’s late.” She was trying not to show how worried she was. 

“Mom, I’m ok. I’m not leaving you alone right now anyway.” 

She agreed and made the calls. They were more polite than Ikuya’s, both along the lines of  _ Hi this is Natsuya’s mom, we tried to call him and he didn’t answer, would you all come back here soon, he knows why. _

Unfortunately, they were both voicemails as well.

The next morning, they both woke up after falling asleep in the living room. No returned calls or texts from Matt, Ryan, or Natsuya. They called the police and filed a missing persons report for the three boys.

* * *

“Did you hear that?” Ryan asked, his voice tight.

“Yeah, where’d it come from?” Matt asked.

“Get in the car,” Natsuya said. “Now.” 

“But the tire isn’t secured,” Matt pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter,” Natsuya already started walking back to the driver’s side, “get in the car.”

They could see the fear written all over his face, and got in, pulling the doors shut as fast as possible then locking them.

Natsuya smacked the dashboard. 

“What’s wrong?” Ryan asked. 

“I don’t know, it won’t start.”

“Should we run?” Matt asked.

“No. Something’s more likely to come after us, and we could get separated or tired. And you’ve told me you’re not supposed to run.” Natsuya had been trying to get the car started while talking, and after turning the key for the umpteenth time, the engine came on. “Ha! There we go!” He made quick work of turning around and they began to head down the winding road out of the woods.

“Ok, it’s too quiet in here,” Matt said. “Can I turn the radio on?” 

Natsuya agreed it was a good idea, and Ryan turned it on.

“Huh,” Ryan said. The music was almost completely overtaken by static. “I guess the signal isn’t strong enough to get out here.”

“No, we should definitely be getting a good signal,” Natsuya said. “That station’s tower is on the south side.”

“I guess we’re too close to an interrupter,” Matt shrugged. “That’s too bad.”

“We don’t have those here.” 

“Huh?” The other two said. 

“Iwatobi’s a small coastal town. We don’t have radio interrupters.”

  
  



	2. Nao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsuya wakes up in the woods, and he's not alone.

Natsuya woke up, and didn’t know where he was. But strangely, he felt calm. The woods could be beautiful during the day - at least he thought it was daytime with the dew on the grass and birds chirping loudly, the trees were almost completely blocking the sunlight - it looked like some places he’d been camping before. 

Upon further inspection of his immediate surroundings, Natsuya changed his mind. He wasn’t in the woods, he was dreaming, or he’d died and gone to heaven. This was obvious because of the strangely familiar and very attractive person sitting over him, watching him closely. They were close enough to touch, and Natsuya very much wanted to do that, but on the off chance this was real life, he decided not to.

“Uhm, hello?” 

“You’re awake,” the person said. His voice was gentle and crisp, it went nicely with his kind appearance. He really was very attractive, but Natsuya was wary of him. There was something a little too familiar and slightly inhuman about him.

Natsuya noticed the inhuman bit, and sat bolt upright, then skittered back like a surprised cat, causing him to promptly smack into a tree. 

This earned a concerned look and a smile hidden behind a hand from the one with him. “Oh no, are you alright?” 

Natsuya put his hand to the back of his head. “I’m fine. If I may, where the hell are we?” 

“A brave one, aren’t you?” 

“I’m not sure if it’s braver than it is stupid, considering where we are.”

“It can be hard to tell the difference, especially in a place like this. May I look at the back of your head? You could’ve gotten injured again.” 

“Again?” Natsuya looked at him in confusion. 

“You were hurt pretty badly, but we healed you. Unfortunately it wasn’t the same for your friends.”

Natsuya’s voice broke. “Are they?..” 

“They died, yes. He tends to show some mercy for people from town.”

“Who else is out here?” 

“I can’t tell you, it would put you in danger. Which is why I erased your memory of what happened to you and your friends last night.”

Natsuya backed up again, more slowly this time. “You what?” The strange things this guy was saying were piling up. 

“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. A lot of us out here are protectors, we’re not violent.”

“Can I ask you a few questions then?” Natsuya asked against his better judgement. 

He smiled and tipped his head to the side. “Of course.” He then moved to sit behind Natsuya, and his long light colored hair trailed almost on the ground as it spilled over his shoulders and down his back. Yet, Natsuya noticed, it was free of any twigs or dirt, as were his clothes.

“What should I call you?” 

“Nao.” 

“Do you know my name already?”

“I do, Natsuya.”

He was going to pretend that didn’t freak him out. “When you say ‘we’ who’s we?”

“My kind, and some others. Many of us have healing abilities, and aren’t meant to fight.”

“Since you erased my memory of last night, do you know what happened to me better than I would?”

“I do. Do you have questions about it?” 

“Just one. Who or what stopped my car, and cut out the radio signal?” 

* * *

Natsuya woke up, and didn’t know where he was. But strangely, he felt calm. The woods could be beautiful during the day - at least he thought it was daytime with the dew on the grass and birds chirping loudly, the trees were almost completely blocking the sunlight - it looked like some places he’d been camping before. 

Upon further inspection of his immediate surroundings, Natsuya changed his mind. He wasn’t in the woods, he was dreaming, or he’d died and gone to heaven. This was obvious because of the strangely familiar and very attractive person sitting over him, watching him closely. They were close enough to touch, and Natsuya very much wanted to do that, but on the off chance this was real life, he decided not to.

“You hit your head pretty hard, do you remember anything I said to you?” 

“Uh, not really. That’s probably not good, is it?” 

“Well, my name is Nao, and I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Your name sounds familiar, I think.” 

Nao smiled. “That’s a good sign. You told me your name as well, Natsuya.”

Natsuya grinned. 

“What’s that look you’re giving me?” 

“You’re very beautiful.”

“You’re a bit forward.” 

“I’d say a bit stupid, but what else do you think?” 

“You’re attractive too.”

Natsuya sat up carefully, his head did feel a bit fuzzy. “You really think so?”

Nao nodded, and put his hand on top of Natsuya’s. “I do.” 

Natsuya carefully pulled Nao towards him after confirming it was ok, his back was against his chest and Nao was sitting between his legs.

Natsuya knew somehow that he wouldn’t be leaving the woods, but he wasn’t sure why. “Maybe this place won’t be so bad, as long as you’re here.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm considering adding another chapter, but I also like how the ending is currently. I've gained an appreciation for ambiguity recently. Let me know if you want another chapter, and if there's anything you want to know about this AU, I'd be glad to see what I could add.


End file.
